Barack Obama's reality-show presidency

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In an Ideas piece Melber says Obama is a character in a fascinating story far beyond politics.
AP Photo

Then, from the other direction, White House aides provide a steady stream of apolitical scenes from Obama’s life to the press and the public.

As the Los Angeles Times reported last month, both Obama staffers and celebrity news executives agree that celebrity-driven media coverage has reached a “new level” at the White House. To generate “personality-driven coverage,” the article explained, White House press aides now give coveted access to celebrity outlets like E! and Us Weekly. (Imagine the photo spread: “They balance a budget, just like us!”)

Beyond the media filter, the White House website has more reality-style scenes than ever before. Sports fans can find Obama’s handwritten NCAA bracket picks, along with over 400 pictures of the president’s daily routine on the official Flickr page. And the White House recently shifted those snapshots’ copyright status to “public domain,” to its credit, so anyone can download and use them.

This show would not be effective, of course, without a good subject. Obama won the presidency by running the first integrated three-screen campaign — reaching people directly via Internet, cell phones and TV — with an authentic, complex style that resonated for voters sick of dark, deceitful and divisive politics.

Michael Hirschorn, the pioneering reality television producer and Atlantic commentator, notes that candidate Obama won over people, especially young voters, by using the media to communicate with a contemporary “linguistic approach” that was “post-political in a traditional way.” Hirschorn told me that Obama has continued to apply that style effectively in office, using the shifting media environment to share his “humanness.”

It clearly isn’t hurting.

Obama’s approval ratings hold strong at about 65 percent, despite the bad economy and a series of tough issues in the spotlight, from bailouts to torture to health care. As a recent Gallup analysis concluded, Obama is not only “maintaining his ‘honeymoon’ approval ratings, but he seems to be improving on them.”

The numbers would not be possible, obviously, unless people already backed Obama’s leadership and agenda. For Americans who don’t follow every policy address, however, the scenes of puppies and sports and gardening cast Obama in a positive quotidian light. After all, depressing news makes people want to change the channel. And that may be one more reason the media are working with the White House to change the news.

Norman MattonThomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1911. As a candidate for President of the U. S., Norman Thomas said, in a 1944 epoch speech: "The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of "liberalism", they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." He went on to say: "I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform."

In similar fashion to how Kennedy understood/benefited from the rising prominence of television, so has Obama with regard to the internet age. His ubiquity is unparalleled.

The reality television aspect can be beneficial in that it keeps the public engaged. It can also keep an administration accountable because of it's aspects of "transparency" and ease of accessibility withg regard to public record. The downside is that distracting messages can also become more commonplace. It is up to the populace to hold these administrations accountable. (Say something contradictory and it will be immediately disputed by proof via youtube, for example).

Regardless of your political affiliation, you can not deny that the Obama adminstration was/is at least more in touch with the dominant cultural zeitgeist than the McCain campaign and this fact alone makes for at least a compelling case for his presidency. His time is now. Or rather, this time is his.

This administration is undoubtedly transformative in regard to how politics is transmitted to the American public. They understand the internet and it's media tools are not going to go away and have embraced it to ensure that their message is not irrelevant.

I agree with the author that Obama's team has handled his PR well. But to put him in the context of a reality show is just silly. Barack Obama isn't a reality show. He is the new reality himself. He is young and smart and saavy and he is so above any reality show I have ever seen or heard of. Plus he as substance which no reality show does. I guess the author wanted to use a contemporary reference to make his point. But it is not the correct one.